Dr. Gerald Horne
Professor of History & African American Studies, University of Houston, published more than 3 dozen books and the soon-to-be-published, 'Revolting Capital: Racism and Radicalism in Washington, DC, 1900-2000 [2023]. Topics: Ukraine as Stepping Stone to China; Implications for White Supremacy Domestically.
Contact: [email protected]
Medea Benjamin
Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of the women-led peace group CODEPINK and the Peace in Ukraine Coalition. Benjamin is conducting a nationwide book tour to discuss the book she co-authored with Nicolas J.S. Davies, “War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict,” speaking to audiences in Hawaii, California, New York, Washington DC and many other cities. Together with Davies, Benjamin has written a series of articles on Ukraine, including, “Leaked papers reveal reality behind Ukraine war propaganda — and it's grim” (April 24, Salon) and “Finland’s NATO Move Leave Others to Carry On” (The Progressive. April 17, 2023).
Contact: [email protected]
Nicholas Davies
Nicolas J. S. Davies is the co-author with Medea Benjamin of the book, “War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict.” Davies is also the author of Blood on Our Hands: The American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq . He is a researcher with CODEPINK, and an independent journalist who has written extensively about U.S. foreign policy and militarism for Z Magazine, Consortium News, Alternet and other alternative media.
Contact: [email protected]
Marcy Winograd
Marcy Winograd is Co-Chair with Bert Knorr of the Peace in Ukraine Coalition and Coordinator of CODEPINK Congress, a bimonthly foreign policy program she co-hosts with Medea Benjamin. As a leader in the Coalition, Marcy has helped spearhead ceasefire petition drives and anti-war protests, including those that target media outlets for their adoption of Pentagon talking points. Marcy has co-produced CODEPINK Radio episodes on Ukraine, including “DC AntiWar Protest & McGovern on Ukraine,” and “Ukraine & China: Diplomacy Now!” Her writings on Ukraine include, “Letter to the Left on Ukraine” (AntiWar.com, Dec. 7, 2022) and “The Tragedy of Ukraine” (Book Review/COUNTERPUNCH).
Contact: [email protected]
Jodie Evans
Jodie Evans is the co-founder of CODEPINK and serves on the CODEPINK Board of Directors. Jodie is the co-editor of two books, "Twilight of Empire: Responses to Occupation" and "Stop the Next War Now: Effective Responses to Violence and Terrorism" and a contributor to “Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution.” She is currently writing a book “China is Not our Enemy", leads efforts to divest from the unjust, extractive war economy to build a just, sustainable peace economy. Together with Humanity Rising convener Jim Garrison, Jodie hosted a series of webinars in the "Summit on Ukraine" featuring prominent guests, such as documentary filmmaker Vladamir Posner, former State Department policy advisor Larry Wilkerson and journalist Chris Hedges.
Contact: [email protected]
Joe Lauria
Joe Lauria has been a journalist covering international affairs and the Middle East for more than 20 years. He is Editor-in-Chief of Consortium News and former The Wall Street Journal's United Nations correspondent. Mr. Lauria has been an investigative reporter for The Sunday Times of London, and has also corresponded from the U.N. in New York for the The Boston Globe, The Montreal Gazette, The London Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail, The Johannesburg Star, and The National.
Contact: [email protected]
Ann Wright
Ann Wright is a 29 year US Army/Army Reserves veteran who retired as a Colonel and a former US diplomat who resigned in March 2003 in opposition to the war on Iraq. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. In December 2001 she was on the small team that reopened the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is the co-author of the book "Dissent: Voices of Conscience."
Contact: [email protected]
David Swanson
David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is executive director of World BEYOND War and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson’s books include War Is A Lie and When the World Outlawed War. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk World Radio. He is a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. Swanson’s writings include, “Vietnam to Ukraine: Lessons for the US Peace Movement-Remembering Kent State and Jackson State!” (April 23, 2023) and “Actions for Ukraine and Around the World.” (World Beyond War.)
Contact: [email protected]
Ivana Hughes
Dr. Ivana Nikolić Hughes, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), and a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry and Director of Frontiers of Science at Columbia University, has been appointed as a Member of the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The TPNW is a landmark international agreement among states that prohibits the possession, development, deployment, use, and threat of use of nuclear weapons and also contains a robust framework for assisting victims of nuclear weapons and remediating contaminated environments. Dr. Hughes is a winner of the Lenfest Distinguished Columbia Faculty Award for 2020 and several other awards and Fellowships. Her work on ascertaining the radiological conditions in the Marshall Islands has been covered widely.
Contact: [email protected]
Helena Cobban
Helena Cobban is the President of Just World Educational. She is a veteran international-affairs journalist, researcher, and author; a book publisher; and a former long-time columnist for The Christian Science Monitor (Boston) and Al-Hayat (London.) A member of Friend Meeting of Washington (Quaker), Ms. Cobban has a long record of engagement in, and research on, issues of anti-militarism, Palestinian rights, and global justice. In early 2022, she and JWE board member Richard Falk led a series of probing online conversations on the crisis in Ukraine, which still provide a valuable learning resource. In April 2022, JWE issued a report on the Ukraine conflict, that called clearly for a speedy ceasefire and negotiations. Her most recent writings on Ukraine and other global issues can be found at Globalities.org.
Contact: [email protected]
Norman Solomon
Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and the executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of many books including “War Made Easy.” For 17 years he wrote the syndicated weekly newspaper column “Media Beat,” assessing the quality of mainstream journalism in the United States. His latest book is “War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine” (The New Press, June 2023). In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews called this new book “a powerful, necessary indictment of efforts to disguise the human toll of American foreign policy.”
Contact: norman[at]rootsaction.org
Bert Knorr
Bert Knorr is Co-Chair of the Peace In Ukraine Coalition, and represents the DSA International Committee on the Coalition's steering committee. Bert initiated a constituent petition to “Tell Barbara Lee - Stop Funding the War in Ukraine” after Congresswoman Lee voted, along with every congressional Democrat, for $40 Billion for the war. During the lead up to the Iraq War he worked with the Not In Our Name project and wrote this San Francisco Chronicle op-ed exposing neocon Paul Wolfowitz and the Project for the New American Century for the criminal strategy behind the US invasion of Iraq. During the Vietnam War, as a student in Italy, he organized a US contingent to march with thousands of Italians protesting the US invasion of Cambodia and the National Guard and police killings of students at Kent State and Jackson State in May of 1970.
Contact: [email protected]
Amish Patel
Podcaster and comedian Amish Patel, host of The Drip on YouTube, hosts programs exploring the politics of Ukraine, the philosophy of de-escalation, US media censorship and efforts to privatize Ukraine. Amish has built a loyal following on his live weekly Youtube show, The Drip, where he talks to cult and con artist survivors about their experiences re-integrating into society. As a stand-up comedian he has opened for SNL alumni Tim Meadows, and Iliza Schlesinger to a packed house at the Danforth Music Hall. Amish found an outlet to express his experiences by writing and producing his own sketch comedy show called Fade to Brown.
Contact: [email protected]
Nicolai Petro
Nicolai N. Petro is Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island. As a Council on Foreign Relations Fellow (1989-1990), he served as special assistant for policy toward the Soviet Union in the U.S. Department of State. His books include: The Tragedy of Ukraine (2023), Ukraine in Crisis (2017), Crafting Democracy (2004), The Rebirth of Russian Democracy (1995), and Russian Foreign Policy (1997). He has also written for Asia Times, American Interest, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, The Guardian (UK), The Nation, The National Interest, New York Times, and the Wilson Quarterly.
Contact: [email protected]
Benjamin Abelow
Benjamin Abelow is the author of "How the West Brought War to Ukraine." The book has been translated into German, Italian, Polish, Danish, and Slovenian, with additional translations forthcoming. Abelow has been interviewed on multiple Apple-listed podcasts (including Keen On) and on television in Italy, Slovenia, and Russia. He has debated the chairman of the political science department at Swarthmore College, an event that made it acceptable for the first time for students to openly question the dominant Western narrative of the war. Abelow previously worked in Washington, DC, where he lectured, wrote, and lobbied Congress about nuclear arms policy. He holds a B.A. in modern European history from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.D. from the Yale School of Medicine, where he also served as Lecturer in Medicine. His other areas of interest include the study of trauma, including war trauma.
Contact: [email protected]
David Speedie
David Speedie was the founder and director of the Program on US Global Engagement at Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs 2008-2017. Before that, he was Chair of the Program on International Peace and Security at Carnegie Corporation of New York and a Senior Fellow at JFK School at Harvard 2007-8. His current professional affiliation is the board of the American Committee for US-Russia Accord (ACURA), which is a nonpartisan, tax-exempt educational organization of concerned citizens from different professions — business, academia, government service, science, law, and journalism — who are deeply concerned about the serious decline in relations between the United States and Russia. His writings include, NATO: A Superannuated Anachronism,” and ‘How the West Brought War to Ukraine' (book review).
Contact: [email protected]
James W. Carden
James W. Carden is a columnist for Globetrotter Media and former adviser to the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission at the U.S. Department of State. His articles and essays have appeared in a wide variety of publications including The Nation, The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, The Spectator, UnHerd, Th[email protected]e National Interest, Quartz, The Los Angeles Times, and American Affairs. He is a member of the board of The American Committee for US-Russia Accord (ACURA) and The Simone Weil Center for Political Philosophy.
Contact: [email protected]
Bryce Greene
Bryce Greene is an Indiana based writer, and contributor to Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR). He studies the role of media distortion and omission in shaping narratives. His research focus includes the proxy war in Ukraine, its causes and its geopolitical impacts. He is currently pursuing a PhD at Indiana University.
Contact: [email protected]
Vladimir Marchenkov
Vladimir Marchenkov is a professor of the Philosophy of Art at Ohio University, where his research focuses on: aesthetics, philosophy of myth, and Russian philosophy. In his presentations, Marchenkov addresses media bias in coverage of the war in Ukraine, surveying the various war narratives: the Ukrainian; the Russian; the Western European and the non-Western. In aesthetics, he is interested in the nature of aesthetic experience, art’s relation to religion and philosophy, as well as art’s transformative powers.
Contact: [email protected]
Tamara Lorincz
Tamara Lorincz is a Canadian peace activist and academic. She will be attending and presenting at the International Summit for Peace in Ukraine in June in Vienna. Last November, Tamara did a month-long tour entitled "Climate, Conflict & the Search for Peace" of Egypt, Russia, Finland, Latvia, Poland and Romania talking to people about how to end the war and peacebuild. Tamara is a PhD candidate in Global Governance at the Balsillie School for International Affairs at Wilfrid Laurier University. She has a Masters in International Politics & Security Studies from the University of Bradford and a Law degree and MBA from Dalhousie University. Her research is on the climate and environmental impacts of the military. She’s a member of the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom-Canada. She is also on the advisory committee of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, World Beyond War and the No to War, No to NATO Network. Her published articles in newspapers and online in Canada: “Canada and NATO escalating conflict with Russia”: “NATO’s new Strategic Concept is a dangerous plan to preserve western power through global militarism”“and “Calls for peace and end to the war in Ukraine growing worldwide.”
Contact: [email protected]
Ray McGovern
Ray McGovern was a CIA analyst of Russia's relations with the US, China, & Europe, and Presidential briefer. He and colleagues in Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity have focused on Ukraine since the coup in Kyiv in 2014. Fearing that media brainwashing is deceiving people into seeing war with Russia as necessary, Ray and VIPS rely on facts to expose the lying.
Contact: [email protected]
Dan Kovalik
Dan Kovalik, international lawyer, professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and an expert of the Center for Geopolitical Studies, visited Crimea in May, 2023,,and reports on the root causes of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Dan’s presents an understanding of the ongoing conflict as perceived by the citizens of the war zone suffering continuous shellings. The insights of a university professor with extensive conflict area experience provide food for thought and analysis of the confrontation in Eastern Ukraine. In addition to teaching, Kovalik served as in-house counsel for the United Steelworkers, AFL-CIO until 2019 He is the author of several books, including his most recent, “The Plot To Overthrow Venezuela, How The US Is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil,” which includes a Foreword by Oliver Stone.
Contact: [email protected]
Dr. James Garrison
Dr. James Garrison is founder and president of Ubiquity University and the convener of Humanity Rising. He came to this having served as president of Wisdom University which he led from 2005 – 2012, after which he led its transition into Ubiquity University, established in 2012. He has spent his entire professional life in executive leadership, including as co-founder and president of the Gorbachev Foundation/USA (1992 – 1995) and State of the World Forum (1995 – 2004) with Mikhail Gorbachev serving as convening chairman. He has written numerous books, including The Plutonium Culture, America as Empire, The Darkness of God: Theology after Hiroshima, Citizen Diplomacy, and Civilization and the Transformation of Power.
Contact: [email protected]
Rick Sterling
Rick Sterling is an independent journalist who has written about Russia including Crimea since 2016. He first went there on a delegation with Center for Citizen Initiatives. In May 2023 he returned to Russia, visiting St Petersburgh, Moscow and three cities in Crimea: Yalta, Simferopol, and Sebastopol. The situation in all parts is dramatically different than portrayed in western media. His experience is that the Russian people want peace but fear fascism and the possibility of a new world war. We need to understand their perspective if we are to understand how we got where we are.
Contact: [email protected]